Richard "Dick" Carpenter

Richard "Dick" Norman Carpenter died peacefully at Hospice of Dayton on July 20, 2018 at age 80. Dick is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carolina; children, Kathy (Dale) Adams and Lynn (Bill) Hardman of Yellow Springs, OH, David (Candace) Carpenter of Brandywine, MD, Brian (Laura) Libby of Noblesville, IN and Mark (Wendy) Libby of Groton, MA; 16 grandchildren, one great grandson and his brother Charles "Chuck" Carpenter of Lakewood. He was preceded in death by parents Albert James, Jr. and Marian Carpenter and his brother Albert James III. Born December 30, 1937 in Battle Creek, MI, Dick's family moved during the WWII years to Cincinnati and after to Canton, OH. He caught for his baseball team and was a lineman for his football team at Canton Lehman High School, then played golf and football at Albion College, MI where he earned a B.S. in Chemistry in 1959. There he met his first wife, Marsha Carle and moved to Cleveland, OH to study Chemistry at Case Western University. They had three children, Kathy, Lynn and David between May 1960 and November 1962. Interested in innovative education, he heard about Antioch College and its unique cooperative work program. When he came to interview, he liked the community's diversity, progressive thinking, schools and parks and accepted a job as Chemistry professor in 1962. In 1969 he drove with his three kids to Santa Monica, CA to study Computer Science at UCLA. He asked the love of his life, Carolina (ne van Olphen, Antioch College class of 1967) to join and marry him there in early 1971, bringing her young sons Brian and Mark Libby to the family. He returned to Yellow Springs to launch Antioch's first Computer Science department in fall 1971. In 1979, Dick returned to Michigan to teach Computer Science at Kalamazoo College. Although saddened to leave Yellow Springs, Dick embraced the move, as he did most everything throughout his life, as a new adventure. In Kalamazoo, as in Yellow Springs, he coached and officiated youth soccer, played tennis and handball, hosted international students and volunteered for the local Democratic Party. He earned a M.S. in Computer Science at Western Michigan University in 1986 while teaching full-time at "K" College. In retirement, Dick and Carolina chose to stay in Kalamazoo amongst their friends and the community they loved while pursuing their love of travel, visiting over 47 countries in 20 years. After nearly 40 years, they recently returned to Yellow Springs where they originally met to live closer to family. Dick will be remembered for his genuine wonderment for life and eternal eagerness to meet new people, discover new things, see new sites, have fun and talk about it all! He loved family, traveling, sports, reading, games, the scenic route, hiking and biking in the great outdoors, fall foliage trips, never doubling back, and always looking for ways to save money. His passions were imprinted on his children via frequent epic road trips and semi-annual cross-country treks to National parks, family, friends and places of interest. He was gregarious, fun, affectionate, social, loyal, loving and a good husband and father, a legacy that his children and grandchildren hope to carry on. A memorial celebration of his life is TBA; check http://www.jacksonlytle.com/ for arrangements or to send condolences. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Avenue, Dayton, OH 45420. His family would like to thank the compassionate caregivers and staff at Hospice of Dayton for giving him the end of life experience he wanted.